What are the main milestones in the history of the Swiss E-ID?

SuisseID (2010), the first E-ID law (adopted 2019, rejected by referendum), the second E-ID law (2022, state-issued and SSI-based), its narrow acceptance in the vote of September 2025, and the start of the trust infrastructure planned for 2027.

* From a private hardware token to a state-issued, self-sovereign E-ID. *

1. 2010, SuisseID: a hardware token (smartcard, USB) with qualified electronic signatures and a SAML login.
2. From 2013, first E-ID law: work on a federal law that split the task between the state and private identity providers. Parliament adopted it in 2019.
3. March 2021, referendum: the first law was rejected with 64.4 % No.
4. 2021, SuisseID becomes SwissID: a private, hardware-free login and signature service.
5. 2022, second E-ID law: a new draft in which the state issues the E-ID, designed along the SSI principles.
6. 28 September 2025, referendum: accepted with 50.39 % Yes.
7. 2027, start: the federal trust infrastructure is planned to go live in the first half of 2027, independently of the E-ID itself, whose launch date was postponed.

The arc in one sentence: the first attempt failed over trust in private companies and data collection; the second succeeded, narrowly, by making the E-ID a state-issued, self-sovereign credential.

Go deeper:

• Elektronische Identität (Schweiz) (Wikipedia, German) — a detailed chronology of both E-ID laws and the votes.